


Blue Bird Feathers

by Bluespacechild



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animal Instincts, Bird/Human Hybrids, Cute, Cute Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron) Fluff, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is so Pure, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance/Shiro (Voltron) Fluff, M/M, Multi, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Polydins, Possessive Keith (Voltron), Possessive Shiro (Voltron), Short & Sweet, Winged Keith (Voltron), Winged Lance (Voltron), Winged Shiro (Voltron), Wingfic, shklance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26529055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluespacechild/pseuds/Bluespacechild
Summary: Keith and Shiro have been acting aggressive, and Lance is clueless until Pidge and Hunk explain to him that they are probably just territorial. When Lance backs off and things only get worse, what is a boy to do when he finds out just how territorial the two really are?
Relationships: Keith/Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 739





	Blue Bird Feathers

"Lance."

At that Lance had nearly jumped out of his skin, halfway into the dining area, halfway in the hallway. 

He lowered his hand from where he had been rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, instantly feeling much heavier than he had just moments before.

He had room to awkwardly flee if need be, but he refrained. 

These were his friends, his _ flock mates _ after all. 

He shouldn't be scared to happen to run into them alone. 

Except he was. 

He had thought the dining room to be empty when he had first arrived, had heard nothing but silence, and so had headed straight for the goo machine…

But now, slowly turning his head he saw Keith and Shiro alone, sitting at the far end of the table across from one another, staring at him with something unreadable in their eyes.

They were having a very early breakfast together, something Lance would have to keep in mind for later so as to not disturb anymore  _ lovebird activities _ . 

He blinked sleepily. 

"Uh… hey, sorry for interrupting I-"

Shiro cut him off, standing slightly and gesturing to the table with a small eerily welcoming smile. "Sit with us Lance, we were actually hoping for some company."

Lance swallowed, making an aborted motion forward before realizing that he could choose only one side of the table, and wondering if this was a test of some kind to prove that he had truly backed off. 

Mated pairs were apparently very territorial and took any little sign as a move on their partner. 

He had not known this, as his family did not possess such a strong instinct to attack or ward off other people from their home, most of their neighbors as close as family, and readily welcomed in at the drop of a hat.

This had caused some cultural barriers at the garrison, but he hadn’t realized just how badly he had been acting. Apparently he had been stepping on these two's toes for a while from what Hunk and Pidge had explained. They had ignored it up until just a few weeks ago until they realized that Keith and Shiro were becoming more...  _ aggressive _ than what the situation really called for. 

Which meant that they were taking this as a challenge of sorts. They saw Lance as not only a rival, but an intruder in their territory.

It made sense, Lance being young, unmated, and flirty made him very threatening instinctual wise.

They had even witnessed Keith stalking Lance silently back to his room one particularly bad day when he had playfully bumped Shiro’s arm, and were forced to intervene for his safety, directing Lance out of Keith’s reach and explaining just how stupid that action had been. 

Heavy tension or in some cases, violence usually followed such a thoughtless interaction of coming between a mated pair, and Lance had been so ashamed of himself for causing such mindless hurt to people he considered family. 

He hadn't even known what was going on until it was too late…Until he couldn’t take it back...

He never was good at reading other people's instincts or reactions, his own primal instincts very much so on the minimal side compared to most of the garrison troops. 

The only thing that really stuck with him past childhood were stress habits like plucking or over-grooming, much to his misfortune, but other than that he never really had to deal with being territorial, or aggressive towards others.

Lance remembered back at the start of their little adventure when he had helped Keith carry Shiro out of harms way without a second thought. 

He had thought the ravenette would never unfluff himself, but had not connected the dots at the time. He thought Keith perhaps just really didn't like him, or maybe his new nickname. 

But looking back, he was probably just angry that Lance had dared to lay a finger on his life mate. 

He realized suddenly that he had been hesitating for too long for it to look like a naturally awkward person's inner turmoil, and swallowed thickly as he began moving forward. 

To avoid any confusion about his intentions, he sat down at the table two seats down, close to the door, hoping the fact that he was technically on Shiro's side didn't piss Keith off, but feeling as though sitting at the head of the table would definitely piss allura off. 

She was  _ very _ territorial over her spot... 

Keith and Shiro followed him with their eyes, and Lance swallowed again, watching Keith for any sign of approval while he fiddled absentmindedly with the ends of his wings. 

When Keith's eyebrows drew in, and his feathers all fluffed up in agitation, he knew he had somehow fucked up. 

Noticing the not so subtle Keith irritation, Lance scooted back a little further to appease him. 

But Keith only looked… angrier?

Lance tried to look smaller, forcing his wings down and hunching his shoulders but it was too late.

With a huff Keith stood and walked closer, and Lance thought for a second that he might be attacked, even flinching when Keith opened his wings up, and lifted himself off the ground with a few powerful beats. 

"Keith, no flying inside-"

Shiro tried to say, also standing, and opening his wings in warning. But Keith only glared at him before landing on the table in front of Lance, opening his wings up around the other boy. 

Shiro rolled his eyes, Lance noticing that he pointedly was _ not _ moving to protect Lance, rather to stand next to where Keith was, and just  _ happening _ to end up next to Lance. 

"Just walk around the table baby, please. "

Then, with a start, Lance realized that he hadn't been looking at Shiro this whole time, he was pointedly not looking at him, in fact…

Which means… 

He had been staring at Shiro's mate.

Oh god  _ Shiro _ was the one feeling like boundaries were crossed, or moves were being made or whatever, and Keith was only making a point that it was never going to happen to calm him. 

His blood felt like ice water, and his cheeks heated up in shame. 

He wished desperately to just go back home, where flirting was a joking echo of the real thing, and hugs and physical contact were for friends and family as well as lovers. Not exclusive or possessive or anything extreme to fight over. 

While Shiro was occupied trying to get the now fluffy Keith off the table, arguing about when was an appropriate time to fly and where was okay to land, Lance slowly slinked out of his chair, careful to avoid both sets of wings, and made his way to the door, hoping they wouldn't notice his departure. 

They didn't.

When he had gotten a good distance away he let himself un-tense, flapping his tired wings a few times, and hoping no more of the pretty blue feathers fell out from stress. This was getting exhausting. He barely even said anything that time, and the two had still been agitated by his actions…

Why did they even invite him to sit with them after all the times he's messed up? Just yesterday he had bumped into Keith while backing away from an angry pidge, and Shiro had put one strong hand on his shoulder when he tried to get away. His gaze had been so intense, before Pidge had rushed in to save him, quickly telling Shiro that they had somewhere else to be. 

Lance could swear his heart had stopped for a second staring into those pretty grey eyes looking at him so sternly.

Or the day before that, when they had all been sparring and Hunk had complained about his shoulder hurting. Lance had stepped in quickly to fix the problem, his mother having taught him a few massage techniques from her work. When he was done he had offered to do Shiro next as he had noticed the other trying to stretch out a cramp in his arm, not realizing how he had worded it until Keith had come up angrily and asked if he should just 'do' both of them. 

Lance had been hurt. Keith really thought he would try and  _ do _ his boyfriend?

Did Shiro really think he would try to make a claim on Keith?

He may be in love with them, but he had known from the start it would never happen, he was happy for them…

Perhaps flirting with a bunch of aliens hadn't been the right move? Maybe they thought he slept around a lot and didn't respect their relationship?

Luckily Pidge had faked a knee cramp shortly after and Lance had excused himself as another patient needed him asap. 

He didn't know what to do to fix this… the damage was already done, as seen by their little exchange in the dining hall. 

Maybe it would be better if he was just never alone with either of them. 

To be absolutely sure that this was the case, he went on a mission to find the castles resident geniuses. 

He found Pidge and Hunk working on a project that Lance had mistakenly ruined a while back, the two casually moving it farther away from his destructive hands while also inviting him to sit with them. 

Upon seeing his face, Hunk's expression turned worried. "Hey, what's wrong, what happened?"

He sighed and plopped down in the offered spot.

"It happened again… "

At that they both looked concerned. 

"Spill. " Pidge demanded, and so Lance told them today's most current events, noting every small detail just in case he had been wrong about any of the signals they had been giving off. From the looks on his friend's faces he wasn't. 

After he had finished his story, Hunk had patted his back "That sounds tough bud. At least you got away okay…"

"This time..." Pidge mumbled, looking irritated. 

"I don't know what their problem is, its not like you've done anything different from what we've been doing, and you even stopped flirting… " Hunk mumbled.

They sat in silence for a moment, Lance curling into Hunk's side for comfort. 

"They must hate me… "

Hunk rubbed comforting swirls into Lance's back, hoping to sooth the other boy, and feeling a bit angry when he noticed a few new missing feathers.

"Alright… Lance, this has gone on long enough, we've got to get a better plan than just happening to be there to help you. If Keith really had attacked you, we wouldn't have known until we found you… "

Lance's wings fluffed up in fear and anxiety and he absent mindedly touched his wings, Pidge scooted closer to him and Hunk wrapped his huge comforting wings around them both. 

It was then that Pidge pulled out three matching bracelets.

She explained quickly what they were, how to use them, and that he needed to discreetly use them any time he bumped into Shiro or Keith so that they could get to him before anything escalated. 

"Hopefully, if we can keep you guys separated for a long enough time, the instinct to establish dominance over a potential rival competing will go away, and we can go back to being a normal flock."

Lance studied the small silver bracelet, running his thumb over the hidden clasp before sliding the safety cover off and pressing the smooth button underneath it. 

Pidge and Hunk's bracelets both chimed in unison, sending a wave of instant relief over him that he had people to support him while he dealt with the pain of both of his crushes hating him and thinking he was trying to ruin their relationship. 

He would never let it get that far… 

He laid awake that night, painfully alone, and idly running fingers over the bracelet on his wrist, his wings wrapped tight around himself.

He found three more feathers in his sheets the next morning. 

He wondered if they made a wing version of ‘just for men’.

  
  


X

  
  


The next week and a half was hell to say the least. 

Every time Lance had ended up alone with Shiro, Keith, or the two together, he had tried to escape the situation without seeming rude or strange, and when that failed, he had secretly pressed the button and awaited rescue from his friends.

It worked like a charm, yet still, Lance found his stress levels going up. 

It seemed the more he ran away, the more often he would happen to run  _ into _ them, and the more persistent and aggressive they were becoming. 

He trudged through the hallway, shoulders stiff, and wings held almost painfully tight to himself. 

He was hungry this early in the morning, and all he wanted was a bowl of plain tasteless food goo, but Shiro and Keith would be there already, doing their now usual thing.

Then they would head to the training room, the showers, the lounge area to spend time with the team, and then the observatory for some star gazing. 

He knew because that used to be  _ Lance’s _ routine. But now he was forced to tiptoe around the two of them, and he wondered not for the first time if they weren't just trying to run him off from pursuing them, but from even being in their flock. 

The thought brought on a wave of emotions that curdled in the pit of his stomach. 

Did they really hate him so much even now? His only real point of contact with them anymore was team meetings or the occasional group meal. Would they ever forgive him?

If this wasn't enough then what would be?

Did they just want him locked in his room until night time every day?

Or did they want him gone for good?

He made his way to the observatory, knowing it was too early for the dou to show up there, and just needing some space to breath. 

Entering the dark room brought on some unsettling feelings, but he pushed them away when he looked up at the stars around him. He unfurled his wings, wrapping them around himself in comfort, before he plopped himself down next to the large window outfacing the vast universe. 

Anxiously, he ran a hand through his feathers, not surprised when another felt fairly loose in his hand. 

He plucked it, and tossed it dismissively to the side. 

This was their fault. He had been trying so hard to make it up to them, and when that failed, they wouldn't even let him  _ avoid _ them. 

Frustrated, he blew on the glass to fog it up a bit, drawing an angry Keith and Shiro with sharp teeth. The humor of the image made him feel a little better at least.

He plucked another feather out. 

And then another, and another after that. 

This time some of them weren’t loose. He just absentmindedly wanted them gone. 

The footsteps behind him didn't even register until he had been tackled. He tumbled forward, out of his thoughts with another feather still in his clutches, ripped out with the force of the impact as he smacked his forehead on the glass.

He squawked, turning his head to try and see his attacker, being met with a set of angry eyebrows and purple eyes. 

His breath caught. 

Keith's hands were resting on the bend of Lance's wings, keeping him Pinned to the ground uncomfortably, and for a moment he wondered if Keith enjoyed touching them. If he thought they were soft or pretty even with the missing feathers-

But that idea soon snapped and ricocheted to some far off corner of his mind as he watched Shiro approach. 

They had been in the observatory when he had walked in. 

He had interrupted their alone time... again. 

He began to struggle once more, this time reaching for the bracelet on his arm in a vain last attempt, but to his shock Keith released his wings to grab for his arms, obviously assuming that Lance would not be strong enough to get away. 

His mistake. 

He opened his wings up quickly, shoving a stunned Keith harshly, but he was unfortunately not strong enough to knock him off completely. 

He turned over, and wiggled out from under him while he vigorously flapped his wings, feeling several sharp stings through the adrenaline, before he again reached for the bracelet.

Cold metal clasped firmly over his wrist, encasing the device completely. 

Shiro. 

He had forgotten about Shiro. 

A horrible error on his part, he must say. 

Lance was breathing heavily, trembling without control. 

Keith he could maybe escape… 

But Shiro was another story. 

And by the look on Shiro's face, he did not want to try. 

He felt hands touch his wings, and flinched away, closing his eyes tightly. 

What were they going to do to him?

With one quick movement the bracelet was broken in Shiro’s metal hand, and tossed to the side.

Fear gripped his heart

Pidge had told him many horror stories of mutilated and destroyed wings, and he had not been a fan of any of them. 

He remembered what Hunk had told him, not daring to look into either of their eyes, even when Shiro sternly called his name, or tilted his chin up. 

Apparently eye contact could bring out particularly aggressive tendencies in situations like this. 

But no pain came, and instead, his wings were gently pried from where they had tightly folded themselves to his back, and a calloused hand ran through his feathers, occasionally lifting one up to examine, or stopping over an area with heavy damage. 

It didn't hurt. 

Keith wasn't hurting him. 

Shiro wasn't hurting him

Keith was in fact… cooing? 

A gentle cooing that was used for stressed or injured loved ones. He thought maybe he was mistaking it for a strangely soft galran version of a battle cry until Shiro too began cooing at him, running a thumb under his eyes in a very soothing manner.

Lance opened his eyes in confusion, looking up slowly, first at Shiro, who's face was a mixture of stern and calm, before cautiously twisting to look back at Keith. 

He seemed to be lost in thought, a grumpy pout plastered onto his face, occasionally smoothing out ruffled feathers that their wrestling match had disturbed, but mostly just making soft sympathetic sounds in the base of his throat as he surveyed the damage that Lance had either done to himself, or stress had done for him.

"You've been plucking... Again."

It jolted Lance out of his thoughts, as it had been the first thing he had heard either boy say since entering the room. 

When Lance didn’t say anything in response, Keith’s hands halted, and he turned his intense gaze onto Lance’s very soul. 

Lance swallowed, wondering if he should even bother answering due to the current danger he was in, but feeling oddly embarrassed for the bad habit. The need to explain himself was a heavy weight on his shoulders.

Especially in front of these two, seeing his wings in such a state must've been humorous, or maybe even disgusting to them. He felt ashamed, trying vainly to close the embarrassing appendages, which Keith held firmly opened, a warning sound echoing out of his throat, forcing Lance to still. 

Lance was humiliated.

"It’s a stress habit, just let go, I’ll leave you two alone, I promise..."

The minute the words left his mouth, rumbling sounds of protest erupted from both parties, Shiro and Keith both moved closer, wings opening around him in a way that seemed… protective?

But that couldn't be right. Pidge and Hunk had said that-

“You’re not going anywhere.”

His wrists were released, one of Shiro’s hands taking hold of both of his, and the other metal hand gently running through his hair.

Lance was astonished, none of this was making any sense.

"Don’t you hate me?"

Lance looked up first at Shiro, then to Keith, imploring them for answers with an expression that he hoped didn't look too pained, one that couldn't reveal the ugly truth in his heart. 

He failed. It was clear on their faces that they knew, shock turned to understanding which morphed once again… 

Keith and Shiro’s expressions had turned sour and Lance thought maybe they would kill him right there for daring to love both of them. 

The audacity, the nerve, Lance thought bitterly. 

He was going to die here on the ground in a space ship, with ugly plucked wings, and his family would never find his body. 

And it was all because of his stupid dumb inability to read instincts like everyone else. 

That was the moment Shiro decided to kiss him. He had done it so gently that Lance wasn’t sure if it had even truly happened, or if it had been some strange near death hallucination.

But then his head was being gently turned, and he knew it was real when Keith kissed him, hard and feverish, desperate to convey something that Lance found himself stumped on.

When Keith released him, those angry eyebrows still looking stern and punishing, Lance was dazed. His blush made him dizzy with the sheer force of it as he processed what had just happened. Gently, as though handling a small kitten, Keith held up one of his now relaxed wings, running a thumb over one of the loose feathers in dismay. “You will stop this immediately.” He growled, sending shivers down Lance’s spine. “If I ever catch you plucking again I will personally handcuff you to a bed.”

Lance’s face turned a darker shade of burgundy, Shiro chuckling as Lance tried to hide his face in his hands, only to bump his head on Shiro’s metal prosthetic. “This makes no sense.”

He said to himself, confused and half convinced that he really had been murdered by the two loves of his life. Shiro let go of his hand to cup his face and force him to look him in the eye. “Then tell us what is confusing you, and we’ll explain it.” His calm voice rumbled with an authority that shook Lance to his core. But he couldn’t find the words. Staring into those silver eyes made him feel weak in the knees and too slow in the brain to process anything. Keith piped up then, feathers fluffed in irritation. “I know you aren’t as... instinctual as us, but I think we made ourselves  _ pretty clear _ with our intentions, Lance. You must be pretty dense not to have gotten it by now.” Lance’s brows furrowed. “Pretty clear? You made yourselves _ way _ more than pretty clear! I may be terrible at understanding instincts and stuff like that…” His face flushed suddenly in embarrassment, but his frustration was revived soon after. “But Pidge and Hunk explained what you were doing, and I did everything I could not to piss you off any further, and then, then you-” He took a deep breath to calm himself. “And now this? Forgive me if I’m a little behind on the current update.” 

At Keith’s confused face, and Shiro’s inquiring chirrup, Lance explained everything that Hunk and Pidge had told him, from the very beginning at the start of their adventure, to Keith stalking him, to the incident in the training room, the dining hall, all the way to the bracelets that were  _ supposed _ to help.

By the end of his speech Keith had to practically be dragged back down by Shiro as he insisted that he was just going to ‘talk’ to Hunk and Pidge. He was soon calmed however when Shiro informed him that he would confront them himself, and reluctantly snuggled back beside Lance as they explained to him in detail their true intentions.

“Yes, we were acting… a  _ bit _ territorial but it was not over each other.”

“We were being territorial over your dumb ass.”

“When Keith opened his wings around you, he was staking a claim over you, acting dominant to imply that he wanted you to stop doing something that was irritating him. His intention was not to hurt you.”

“It makes me angry when you pluck, you shouldn’t treat your wings like that… I think they’re pretty.”

“Keith has very little self control over his instincts, so he kept making moves on you that I told him you wouldn’t understand. We were going to try to ask you out the normal way but you kept scampering off, and then...”

“Those stupid bracelets…” Keith and Shiro both took a moment to glare disdainfully at the offending jewelry, Keith puffing up his wings to look threateningly at the dormant metal chain.

“You kept leaving. Pidge and Hunk kept butting in and we thought maybe the universe was working against us so we matched up to your schedule to ensure that we would run into you…”

Shiro growled. “But we didn’t. And then I noticed that Pidge and Hunk both had those same bracelets… And when they chimed, they would both go running to find you, knowing exactly where you were.”

Keith’s grip was possessive. “Did you really think we wouldn’t notice? We’re not as oblivious as  _ some people. _ ”

Lance was going to respond with a witty comeback, truly he was, but his brain override any sense of dignity or anger at the jab and instead he blurted out-

“I love you.”

Lance regretted it only for a moment before lips were on his cheek, and his wings were back to being gently groomed again by two sets of hands, both answering so softly that Lance wouldn’t have heard them had they not been whispering directly in his ear.

“We love you too.” Came the soft reply, Lance turning to jelly as arms wrapped around him in a comforting and cozy embrace.

The next morning, when Lance would wake up on the castle floor, cuddled up in blankets and tangled in two sets of arms, there would be no blue feathers molted in his sleep, and his urge to pluck would be all but gone. 

And he would smile, knowing he would never wake up feeling alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna try writing smut, it sounds fun and I've been getting some requests. Y'all lemme know your thoughts, maybe I'll give it a go.


End file.
